Thailand - Relaxing on Ko Samui

Ko Samui is like a well-established Hollywood celebrity: she's outrageously manicured, has lovely blond tresses and has gracefully removed all of her wrinkles without more than a peep from the tabloids. Behind the glossy veneer there's still a glimmer of the girl from the country...

Not one of Lonely Planet's better descriptions of a destination, but our three-day stay on Ko Samui island was a relaxing one, a nice escape from Bangkok's faster pace of life. We flew in from the capital on a Tuesday, and took a taxi to our lodgings, the family-friendly Coco Palm Resort in Mae Nam. Our bungalow was a comfortable combination of bamboo, rattan and wood, and it didn't take me long to start visualizing it as a blueprint for my home after retirement, beachfront location included:

A reminder of the workplace left behind in Shànghăi 上海. I quickly changed the channel:

Soon after checking in, my daughter was ready to hit the beach:

That's Amber running down to the water:

The water wasn't clear and teeming with fish like at the beaches I'd been to in Okinawa 沖縄, but it was warm and gentle, and the atmosphere was close to idyllic:

The rest of our first day on Ko Samui was spent at the resort. The next morning, following a post-breakfast swim, I took a walk in the neighborhood outside Coco Beach. Water buffalo relaxed in a field:

Posters advertised an upcoming Thai boxing tournament:

My daughter was relaxing on the bungalow portico when I returned:

The three of us went out together for lunch. On the way we passed a Chinese grave. About 14% of Thailand's population is descended from Chinese immigrants:

My wife tries out a different look.  Her love of beer and pork precludes her from ever making certain religious conversions:

Speaking of pork, this dish was so spicy I was sweating and close to tears. The Singha beer didn't help; it took a banana milkshake to help put out the fire. And naturally it was delicious:

Dinner that evening didn't trigger any fire alarms, but was still tasty, as were virtually all our meals while we were in Thailand. We ate outdoors, with a breeze blowing in from the rice fields behind the restaurant doing a great job keeping us cool:

The view from the Coco Palm Beach Resort's restaurant as we had breakfast on Thursday morning:

Amber took a stroll along the beach after breakfast:

We rented a car from the German owner of a restaurant/travel agency located across the road from our resort, and spent most of the day driving around Ko Samui, following Route 4169:

We stopped several times to admire the views:

The Nam Tok Na Muang waterfall, at 30 meters (98 feet) the highest waterfall on the island:

My family did some souvenir shopping:

Near the waterfall was a small cafe selling handmade organic chocolate. The proprietor was a young man from Eastern Europe who had opened the business only six months before. The chocolate was some of the best I'd ever had, which is saying something after having spent some time in Belgium last September:

The Wat Khunaram temple was the home of a mummified monk named Luang Phaw Daeng. Amber was fascinated by the sight, until she asked me why the corpse had sunglasses on, and I told her the reason why:

We also stopped briefly at Ban Hua Thanon, a Muslim neighborhood:

Ko Samui's most popular sights for Thai visitors are two stone formations called Hin-Ta and Hin-Yai, also known as Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks. The female rock was difficult to locate...:

...but the male counterpart was easier to identify:

Lunch at the Hua Thanon Market near Lanai. The layout was similar to markets found in Taiwan, only with better tasting food (sorry Formosa):

On the advice of the German who rented the car to us, we made a stop at Silver Beach. Though ostensibly a private resort, buying some drinks there also bought us some time. While Pamela enjoyed a couple of beers and the shade, Amber and I played in the water alongside the German, Russian and other European tourists:

We made one more stop at a vista point to check out the view before returning the car:

Back at the resort that evening, my wife decided to relax in the air-conditioned comfort of our bungalow, while my dinner date and I enjoyed a nice meal sitting outdoors as night fell:

We left Ko Samui on Friday morning and returned to Bangkok. While the girls were packing up, I took another walk in the neighborhood around the resort. Although the area was family-friendly for the most part, the main "street" still had a few adult-themed establishments:

Fishing boats at rest in the morning. It took a while for Ko Samui to wake up:

The neighborhood Buddhist temple included a statue that I thought might've been that of a previous king:

After spending three days on Ko Samui, I could understand why there was a significant resident foreign community on the island. Although parts of Ko Samui are busy with traffic and tourists, other areas seem quiet and peaceful. The pace of life is relaxing and no one is in a particular hurry to get anywhere. You're never too far from the ocean on Ko Samui, yet the interior is hilly and promises some decent hiking (though I didn't have the time to explore). The food is great and inexpensive, and...OK, so it's obvious I was starting to feel the attraction as well. I can see myself retiring to a spot like this someday (the Kinokuniya bookstore in Bangkok that I later visited had a book on retiring in Asia that I came close to buying), though Pamela isn't so keen on the idea. I still have time to change her mind, and she does seem to have the appropriate fashion sense...

At the airport on Ko Samui, being carted to our plane going to Bangkok

Thailand - Going to ruin in Ayuthaya

A brief history lesson, courtesy of Lonely Planet's Discover Thailand guide:

Between 1350 and 1767 Ayuthaya was the capital of Siam. As a major trading port during the time of the trade winds, international merchants visited and were left in awe by the temples and treasure-laden palaces. At one point the empire ruled over an area larger than England and France combined. Ayuthaya had 33 kings who engaged in more than 70 wars during its 417-year period; however, fine diplomatic skills also ensured no Western power ever ruled Siam.

The last of the empire's battles was in 1767, when an invading Burmese army sacked the city, looting most of its treasures. What was left began to crumble until major restoration work began. In 1991 Ayuthaya's ruins were designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Many nations have their "golden age" from eras gone by, and in Thailand's case a strong argument could be made for the Ayuthaya Kingdom. It was Monday the 21st of June when we took a taxi from our hotel to Bangkok's retro Hua Lamphong train station to book our tickets for a day trip. Note the prominent portraits of the royal family - at 8:00 a.m. sharp, everyone stood at attention and faced the pictures, as the Thai national anthem played. Everyone, that is, except my wife, who was too absorbed in Line to realize what was going on until the song was halfway through:

Getting ready to board the express. As a day in Ayuthaya meant exploring more temples, I covered myself up again, despite the stifling heat:

Though it was slow going in Bangkok's city limits, the train eventually picked up speed as we entered the countryside, and we rolled into Ayuthaya mid-morning. A quick ferry ride across the river, followed by a short trip in a songthaew, found us at the Elephant Taxi Kraal. My daughter was better prepared for the sun this time than she was the day before:

The elephant ride was bumpy, and I frequently felt as though I were going to slide off our beast. It was also touristy, and the mahouts paused to extort tips from us about halfway through, but you can't go to Thailand without going for an elephant ride, so what can you do? Amber certainly enjoyed the experience:

After dismounting, we walked over to the Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit Buddhist temple. The 17 meter-high (56 feet) bronze Buddha image housed within the sanctuary hall is one of the largest in Thailand:

Next door to Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit is Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Ayuthaya's most famous ruin. Dominated by three stupas known as chedi, the temple was built in 15th century and was the largest in the city. It housed a 16 meter-high (52 feet) standing Buddha that was covered with 250 kilograms (551 pounds) of gold; the statue was melted down by the Burmese invaders who sacked the temple:

A model gave an idea of what the temple looked like before the Burmese came to town:

A morning of elephants and ruins worked up our appetites, so stopped for lunch in the market between Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit and Wat Phra Si Sanphet. The Thai-style milk tea I ordered with my lunch was prepared by a gentleman who had once been a classical Thai dancer, at least judging by his image on the cup. The newspaper clippings at his stall, and the pictures of him being taken by Thai visitors, also gave clues as to his celebrity status:

My daughter was holding up pretty well in the mid-afternoon heat, but the same couldn't be said of my wife. Pamela decided to retreat to the comfort of an air-conditioned cafe while Amber and I explored the striking ruins of Wat Phra Mahathat. The temple dates back to 1374 and the ruins IMHO were hella photogenic:

There were rows of headless Buddha images. Blame it all on the Burmese?:

The most famous sight in Wat Phra Mahathat is this sandstone Buddha head entangled within some tree roots:

My daughter enjoyed poking around the destruction:

Explorations completed, Amber and I retreated to the cafe where Pamela had literally been cooling her heels. Never did a cold Thai milk tea taste so refreshing:

Ayuthaya has a lot more to offer than just the few places we visited and is worth an overnight trip from Bangkok, but as our time in Thailand was limited to a week, we hopped in a songthaew to go back to Ayuthaya station, and then returned by train to Hua Lamphong. I took a few pictures on the ride to Bangkok:

That evening we strolled over to the Khaosan Road area for dinner:

The following morning we checked out of the Lamphu Treehouse, where we had stayed our first three nights in the country. Before doing so, my daughter and I went up to the roof to have a look:

A small Buddhist shrine in the courtyard of the hotel:

While waiting for the taxi to take us to the airport, Amber and I took a walk back over to Khaosan Road for a final look:

A shop selling Thai flags and portraits of the royal family

Tuk-tuks lined up on Khaosan Road

We would return to Bangkok later in the week. But for the next three nights the three of us would be enjoying the comforts of Ko Samui island. Film at 11...